Athlete of the Week: Davis Reya-Ruiz, Edison football

STOCKTON — Davis Reya-Ruiz didn’t need much time to prove that the youngest player on the team could be the leader of the offense.

The sophomore quarterback threw five touchdown passes in the first half of Edison’s season-opening 77-13 win against Weston Ranch on Sept. 1. The Vikings will try to make it two wins in a row when they visit Modesto-Beyer at 7 p.m. Friday.

Reya-Ruiz completed 9 of 11 passes for 331 yards as the Vikings piled up 663 yards in total offense.

The 16-year-old admitted he was “stressed out” in the days leading up to the opener, but it was one of those days where everything went right for Edison.

“It was a really good start, but you can’t get too excited,” Reya-Ruiz said. “Like coach (Booker Guyton) says, whether things are going bad or things are going good, stay in the middle.”

He was quick to credit his teammates. His favorite target was senior receiver Hassani Zackery, who caught four touchdown passes and finished with 220 yards in receiving.

Reya-Ruiz said it was a challenge to come in as an underclassman and become one of the Vikings’ on-field leaders.

“It took a little while to get comfortable, because I’m the youngest guy on the varsity team,” Reya-Ruiz said. “But once they saw that I can take control and lead this team, we were off and running.”

Age: 16

Hometown: Stockton

Position: QB

Height: 6 foot

Weight: 170 pounds

Favorite NFL team: San Francisco 49ers

Favorite NFL player: Tom Brady

Favorite movie franchise: "The Fast and The Furious"

Learning coach Guyton’s system? “It’s a complicated system, there’s over 180 players, but when you learn it you can do wonderful things with it. I came in and told him I wanted to be the guy. He handed me the playbook in my freshman year and told me to study.”